Penn State receives harsh NCAA sanctions

July 23, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Susan DelPonte, center, of State College, Pa., reacts to a television in the HUB on the Penn State University main campus in State College, Pa., as the NCAA sanctions against the Penn State University football program are announced Monday, July 23, 2012. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Andrew Hanselman, left, of Bucks County, Pa., and Maddy Pryor, a senior, from Neptune, N.J., react as they listen to a television in the HUB on the Penn State University main campus in State College, Pa., as the NCAA sanctions against the Penn State University football program are announced Monday, July 23, 2012. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Laura Lovins, a Penn State University sophomore from State College, Pa., center, reacts while listening to a television in the HUB on the Penn State University main campus in State College, Pa., as the NCAA sanctions against the Penn State University football program are announced Monday, July 23, 2012. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Maddy Pryor, a senior, from Neptune, N.J., listens to a television in the HUB on the Penn State University main campus in State College, Pa., as the NCAA sanctions against the Penn State University football program are announced Monday, July 23, 2012. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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NCAA President Mark Emmert gestures during a news conference in Indianapolis, Monday, July 23, 2012. The NCAA has slammed Penn State with an unprecedented series of penalties, including a $60 million fine and the loss of all coach Joe Paterno's victories from 1998-2011, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. THE ASSOCIATD PRESS

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Penn State University football player linebacker Michael Mauti leaves the Lasch Football building after a team meetings explaining the ramifications of the NCAA sanctions against the Penn State University football program in State College, Pa., Monday, July 23, 2012. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Susan DelPonte, center, of State College, Pa., reacts to a television in the HUB on the Penn State University main campus in State College, Pa., as the NCAA sanctions against the Penn State University football program are announced Monday, July 23, 2012.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA slammed Penn State with an unprecedented series of penalties Monday, including a $60 million fine and the loss of all coach Joe Paterno's victories from 1998-2011, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

Other sanctions include a four-year ban on bowl games, the loss of 20 scholarships per year over four years and five years' probation. The NCAA also said that any current or incoming football players are free to immediately transfer and compete at another school.

NCAA President Mark Emmert announced the staggering sanctions at a news conference in Indianapolis. Though the NCAA stopped short of imposing the “death penalty” — shutting down the Nittany Lions' program completely — the punishment is still crippling for a team that is trying to start over with a new coach and a new outlook.

Sandusky, a former Penn State defensive coordinator, was found guilty in June of sexually abusing young boys, sometimes on campus. An investigation commissioned by the school and released July 12 found that Paterno, who died in January, and several other top officials at Penn State stayed quiet for years about accusations against Sandusky.

Emmert fast-tracked penalties rather than go through the usual circuitous series of investigations and hearings. The NCAA said the $60 million is equivalent to the annual gross revenue of the football program. The money must be paid into an endowment for external programs preventing child sexual abuse or assisting victims and may not be used to fund such programs at Penn State.

“Football will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing and protecting young people,” Emmert said.

Emmert had earlier said he had “never seen anything as egregious” as the horrific crimes of Sandusky and the cover-up by Paterno and others at the university, including former Penn State President Graham Spanier and athletic director Tim Curley.

The investigation headed by former FBI Director Louis Freeh said that Penn State officials kept what they knew from police and other authorities for years, enabling the abuse to go on.

There had been calls across the nation for Penn State to receive the “death penalty,” and Emmert had not ruled out that possibility as late as last week — though Penn State did not fit the criteria for it. That punishment is for teams that commit a major violation while already being sanctioned.

As a result of the vacated victories, Paterno drops from first to 12th on the career wins list (from 409 to 298).

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